Second clerkship or fellowship? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I currently have a 2 year magistrate judge clerkship. I have some upcoming interviews for a district clerkship in an area I would practice in. I also have an upcoming interview for a fellowship for a PI organization I would love to work for, however I kinda wanted to do a district court clerkship before I went into practice. Is one better than the other? Should I just jump into PI work? Ty!

[Anonymous User]

I’d definitely clerk on the district court if you get an offer. Will be immensely valuable for litigating and probably give you experience that you didn’t get with MJ

[Anonymous User]

I'm less convinced that a district court clerkship is the right move, if you want to be working in public interest. At this point, you're 3-4 years into clerking and no closer to working in public interest. I would strongly recommend the fellowship if your goal long-term is to work in public interest. You can always get a district court clerkship after your fellowship.

[Anonymous User]

Depends on what your end goal is. If it's just to work for this PI org, then take the fellowship. Either it turns into a full time offer or you can go clerk after. If your goal is BigLaw or private practice or something like that, then PI, then do the D. Ct. as a way to get there first.

[lavarman84]

If you want to work for the public interest org interviewing you, that fellowship will be more valuable than the D. Ct. clerkship. A D. Ct. clerkship is great experience and can help you get your foot in the door with selective PI orgs. But the fellowship actually gets you inside the room.